•NRLF 


B    M    IDS 


AND 


CHANGELESS 


EX-LIBRIS 


THE    JEWISH     PUBLICATION     SOCIETY 
OF    AMERICA 

LOANED  TO  THE 
INTERCOLLEGIATE   MENORAH    ASSOCIATION 

FOR    USE    AT 

UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA 


• 


BEATING  SEA  AND 
CHANGELESS  BAR 


BEATING  SEA  AND 
CHANGELESS  BAR 


BY 

JACOB  LAZAERE 


PHILADELPHIA 
THE  JEWISH  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY  OF  AMERICA 

1905 


Copyright,  1905,  by 
The  Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America 


Published  May,  1905 


TO 

MY   PEOPLE, 

THE  BAR  THAT  HAS, 
FOR  CENTURIES   ON   CENTURIES, 
WITHSTOOD    THE    BEATING    SEA 


When,  in  what  other  life, 
Where,  in  what  old  spent  star, 
Systems  ago,  dead  vastitudes  afar, 
Were  we  two  bird  and  bough,  or  man  and  wife? 
Or  wave  and  spar? 
Or  I  the  beating  sea  and  you  the  bar 
On  which  it  breaks?     I  know  not.     I! 
But  this,  oh,  this,  my  very  dear,  I  know: 
Your  voice  awakes  old  echoes  in  my  heart; 
And  things  I  say  to  you  are  said  once  more; 
And,  sweet,  when  we  two  part, 
I  feel  I  have  seen  you  falter  and  linger  so, 
So  hesitate  and  turn  and  cling,— yet  go, 
As  once  in  some  memorable  Before, 
Once  on  some  fortunate  yet  thrice  blasted  shore." 

— HENLEY. 


CONTENTS 


PAST  PAGE 

I.     "  WAVE  AND  SPAR  "  11 

II.     "ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMORABLE  BEFORE"...  23 

III.  "  ON     SOME     FORTUNATE     YET     THRICE 

BLASTED  SHORE  "    47 

IV.  "  So  HESITATE  AND   TURN  AND   CLING, — 

YET  Go"   .  .93 


I 

"WAVE  AND   SPAE" 


"  WAVE  AND  SPAR  ': 

"  Come  with  me,  oh,  come  with  me, 
my  beloved.     Fly  with  me  this  night, 

0  fairest  "among  women,  and  I  will 
make  thee  a  queen  amid  the  daughters 
of  Nineveh.     For  am  I  not  Sargon, 
the  Captain  of  the  King's  host?    Do 
not  all  the  King's  servants  bow  before 
me?    Did  not  the  King's  word  come 
to  me  this  night,  saying,  '  Arise  and 
haste  thee  to  Sennacherib,  the  great 
King?    To    Libnah,    where    lie    the 
King's  armies  '  ?    And  on  the  morrow 

1  go,  my  beloved;  and  this  night  I 
have  come  for  thee,  my  heart's  desire, 

[13] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAK 

lest  thou  shouldst  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  spoiler,  when  Tartan  taketh 
the  city." 

"  Tartan  will  not  take  the  city,  O 
my  Assyrian  lover,  for  Isaiah,  the  son 
of  Amoz,  my  kinsman,  hath  said  it." 

66  Vain  words,  idle  words,  my  be 
loved.  Didst  thou  not  hear  the  speech 
of  the  Rab-shakeh,  the  cup-bearer  of 
the  great  King,  which  he  spake  to 
Eliakim,  the  son  of  Hilkiah,  which  is 
over  the  household,  and  to  Shebna, 
the  scribe,  and  to  Joah,  the  son  of 
Asaph,  and  to  the  people  on  the  wall  ? 
What  can  deliver  Jerusalem  from  the 
great  King's  wrath?  Who  can  save 
from  the  might  of  Tartan  and  Rab- 
saris?  " 

"  The  Lord  God  of  hosts.  For 
[14] 


WAVE  AND  SPAE 


hath  not  Isaiah,  the  son  of  Amoz,  sent 
word  to  Hezekiah,  the  King,  '  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  concerning  the  King 
of  Assyria,  He  shall  not  come  into 
this  city,  nor  shoot  an  arrow  there, 
nor  come  before  it  with  shield,  nor 
cast  a  bank  against  it?  By  the  way 
that  he  came,  by  the  same  shall  he 
return,  and  shall  not  come  into  this 
city,  saith  the  Lord. '  And  we  of  Zion 
have  faith,  my  Captain,  we  ha  ye 
faith." 

"  Of  what  avails  thy  faith,  my  be 
loved,  of  what  avails  thy  faith  ?  Hath 
any  of  the  gods  of  the  nations  de 
livered  at  all  his  land  out  of  the  hand 
of  the  King  of  Assyria  ?  Where  are 
the  gods  of  Hamath  and  of  Arpad? 
Where  are  the  gods  of  Sepharvaim, 

[15] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAK 

of  Hena,  of  Ivvah'?  Have  they  de- 
,  livered  Samaria  out  of  the  great 
King 's  hand  ?  Then  talk  not  of  faith 
in  thy  God  of  Zion,  O  fairest  among 
women,  but  of  love.  Bethink  thee 
how  I  loved  thee  from  the  moment  I 
saw  thee  in  the  house  of  Eliakim,  the 
son  of  Hilkiah,  which  is  over  the 
household,  when  I  came  to  bear  the 
tribute  of  Hezekiah,  the  King,  three 
hundred  talents  of  silver  and  thirty 
talents  of  gold,  unto  the  King  of 
Assyria,  my  master.  From  the 
moment  my  eyes  beheld  thee  I  have 
loved  thee,  O  my  heart's  desire.  I 
have  left  my  tent  without  the  walls, 
and  sought  thee  throughout  the  city, 
my  beloved,  in  the  habit  of  a  slave. 
In  the  darkness  of  the  night  when  my 
[16] 


WAVE  AND  SPAE 


servants  thought  I  slept,  I  sought 
thee  till  I  found  thee.  Come  with  me, 
oh,  come  with  me,  my  beloved,  for  on 
the  morrow  I  haste  to  the  King ;  and 
Tartan  will  enter  the  city,  and  the 
inhabitants  thereof  will  taste  of  the 
bitterness  of  exile  even  as  their 
brethren  of  Samaria,  and  not  one 
stone  shall  be  left  standing  on 
another,  for  so  hath  said  the  great 
King.  Dreamest  thou  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel  is  greater  than  Bel?  Then 
why  was  not  His  hand  stretched  forth 
to  save  Samaria  when  the  God  of 
Asshur  smote?  But  what  to  us,  O 
my  fairest  among  women,  are  the 
wars  of  Bel  and  Yahwe,  since  love  is 
greater  than  they?  For  it  is  love 
hath  drawn  the  Captain  forth  from 
[17] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

his  tent  in  the  habit  of  a  slave,  and  it 
is  love  that  draweth  the  daughter 
from  the  house  of  her  fathers.  Come 
with  me,  oh,  come  with  me,  my  be 
loved,  for  the  dawn  cometh  soon,  and 
I  must  away  to  the  King.  Let  thy 
self  down  from  the  window,  O  desire 
of  mine  eyes,  that  mine  arms  may 
hold  thee  as  my  heart  ever  holdeth 
thee.  Come  away,  my  beloved,  come 
away." 

66  Hold  wide  open  thy  arms,  my 
lover,  my  loved  one,  that  I  may  not 
fall,  for  I  am  coming  to  kiss  thee  with 
the  kisses  of  my  lips,  that  thou  mayest 
taste  them  on  thy  ride  to  the  King. 
Hold  me  close,  my  beloved,  hold  me 
close,  for  the  day  cometh  soon,  and  I 
shall  be  alone.  The  voice  of  my 

[18] 


WAVE  AND  SPAE 


people  crieth  in  my  ears,  and  the 
voice  of  the  Lord  God  biddeth  me 
stay,  and  my  feet  may  not  follow  my 
heart.  Therefore  let  me  go,  my 
heart's  treasure — I  must  go." 

"  I  cannot  let  thee  go,  my  beloved. 
Come  away,  come  away.  I  will  make 
thee  a  queen  amid  the  women  of  Nine 
veh.  I  will  make  thee  a  queen  in  the 
Temple  of  Bel." 

"  The  night  waxeth  faint  in  the 
East,  my  heart's  treasure.  Haste 
away,  haste  away.  One  more  kiss  on 
thy  lips — then  I  go.  I — must — go." 

And  when  the  sun  rose,  the  Captain 
of  the  King's  hosts  set  forth  with  his 
men,  and  went  and  came  unto  the 
King,  his  master,  before  Libnah. 
And  a  certain  woman  stood  on  the 
[19] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAK 

housetop  when  the  sun  rose,  and 
watched  the  Captain  of  the  King's 
host  going  forth  with  his  men,  and 
her  heart  broke  within  her. 

And  it  came  to  pass  in  a  few  days 
that  word  came  unto  Rab-shakeh  and 
unto  Rabsaris  that  were  before  Jeru 
salem,  from  the  King  of  Assyria, 
saying,  "  Haste,  haste,  for  Tirhakah, 
the  King  of  Ethiopia,  behold,  he  is 
come  out  to  fight  against  us."  So 
Rab-shakeh  returned,  and  found  the 
King  of  Assyria  warring  against 
Libnah. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass  that  night 
that  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  went  out, 
and  smote  in  the  camp  of  the  Assy 
rians  a  hundred  fourscore  and  five 
thousand:  when  they  arose  early  in 

[20] 


WAVE  AND  SPAE 


the  morning,  behold,  they  were  all 
dead  corpses." 

So  Sennacherib,  King  of  Assyria, 
departed,  and  went  and  returned,  and 
dwelt  at  Nineveh. 

And  in  Jerusalem  they  sang: 
"Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  Eternal, 
among  the  gods?  Who  is  like  unto 
thee,  glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in 
praises,  doing  wonders  ?  ' : 

So  sang  they  in  Jerusalem  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Judah,  even  the  woman 
of  the  broken  heart. 


[21] 


II 

"  ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMORABLE 
BEFORE  " 


II 

"  ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMORABLE  BEFORE  " 

"  How  long  have  I  known  thee,  O 
nymph  of  the  amber  hair,  how  long 
have  I  known  thee  ?  Since  thou  wert 
a  tiny  maid,  and  didst  steal  in  to  hear 
me  sing  the  songs  of  Homer  to  thy 
dark-browed  brothers.  Dost  remem 
ber  how  thou  didst  love  them,  and  the 
figures  on  my  shield  that  thou  didst 
take  for  the  very  shield  of  Achilles 
that  Homer  sang?  " 

"  I  remember  how  I  loved  the 
songs,  most  of  all  the  wanderings  of 
Odysseus,  for  of  wandering  and  of 
suffering  is  the  world's  music  made. 
But  better  far  than  the  songs,  I  love 
[25] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

the  wondrous  figures  of  the  Greeks. 
They  are  so  beautiful,  so  beautiful,  I 
cannot  but  think  the  hands  that 
wrought  them  are  guided  of  God." 

"  That  cannot  be,  my  fair-haired 
maid,  for  has  not  that  gloomy,  jealous 
God  of  thine  forbidden  aught  of 
image  work  within  your  homes  and 
temples  f  " 

"  Jest  not,  Bacchides,  at  what  thou 
canst  not  understand.  God  forbade, 
lest  man  should  bow  down  and  wor 
ship  the  work  of  his  own  hands,  as  the 
heathen  do,  even  as  the  Greeks.  But 
in  my  heart  there  wakes  a  thought, 
that  one  day  it  may  come  to  pass, 
when  the  whole  world  is  filled  with 
His  glory,  and  all  peoples  shall  call 
upon  His  Holy  Name,  that  man  may 
[26] 


ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMOEABLE  BEFOEE 

rejoice  in  the  beauty  his  hands  have 
wrought,  because  his  soul  will  be 
filled  with  the  radiance  of  the 
Eternal." 

"  O  sweet  dreamer  of  dreams,  hast 
thou  no  more  fair  vision  for  the  world 
than  the  rule  of  thy  surly,  formless 
God?  Is  it  not  enough  for  thee,  O 
goddess  of  the  radiant  hair,  that  the 
sky  is  fair  this  day?  that  from  this 
housetop  we  can  see  the  far-away  blue 
sea?  that  I  do  worship  the  work  of 
thy  fair  hands  ?  and  crave  of  thee  this 
scarf  when  it  is  wrought?  ' 

"  That  may  not  be,  Bacchides,  for 
this  banner  which  I  stitch  is  for  my 
mother's  kinsman,  Mattathias,  of  the 
priestly  house  of  Joarib,  he  that 
lately  came  to  Modin  from  the  Holy 
[27] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

City,  with  his  five  sons,  when  Antio- 
chus,  the  King,  Antiochus  Bpimanes, 
profaned  the  sanctuary." 

"It  is  well,  O  daughter  of  a 
priestly  race,  that  no  stranger  ears 
have  heard  thee  call  the  King  the 
madman;  for  Antiochus  Epiphanes 
hath  dungeons  for  unruly  Jewish 
tongues." 

"  But  none  deep  enough  to  quell 
the  Jewish  heart." 

"  What  hast  thou,  O  nymph  of  the 
amber  hair,  to  do  with  a  Jewish 
heart?  Have  I  not  dipped  thee  in 
the  living  waters  of  Greek  poetry  till 
thou  art  become  a  very  daughter  of 
Hellas  in  thy  love  of  beauty?  Did 
not  thy  father  win  the  chariot  race 
from  my  father  in  the  great  hippo- 
[28] 


ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMOEABLE  BEFORE 

drome  of  Antioch,  when  Cleopatra, 
the  King's  daughter,  wedded  Ptol 
emy,  and  brought  him  that  queenly 
city  for  a  dowry  ?  And  have  not  thy 
dark-browed  brothers  been  crowned 
athletes  in  the  Gymnasium?  Have 
they  not  forgotten  their  Jewish  blood 
in  their  Grecian  thews  and  sinews? 
And  hath  not  Apelles,  the  officer  of 
Antiochus,  come  to  make  ye  all 
Greeks  in  very  deed?  Doth  he  not 
bear  greetings  from  the  King,  from 
Antiochus  the  Great,  unto  thy  kins 
man  Mattathias,  and  unto  his  five 
sons,  with  fair  promises  of  honor  and 
riches  for  him  and  his  house,  if  he  will 
but  lead  in  the  sacrifice?  Thinkest 
thou  he  will  refuse  the  King's  friend 
ship?" 

[29] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

"  What,  O  Bacchides,  is  a  heathen 
king's  friendship  to  a  prince  of  the 
priestly  line?  Before  ever  Achaia 
was,  his  fathers  served  the  Living 
God.  In  the  "Wilderness,  in  the 
Tabernacle,  in  the  Temple,  in  the 
weary  exile,  there  failed  not  a  priest 
of  the  House  of  Aaron.  Knowest 
thon  not  that  ever  since  thy  mad  King 
profaned  the  sanctuary,  and  set  up 
the  abomination  of  desolation  within 
the  Holy  of  Holies,  Mattathias  and 
his  sons  have  mourned  in  sackcloth 
for  the  glory  departed  from  Israel? 
And  out  of  their  mourning  shall 
come  forth  a  greater  glory,  for  their 
sore  cry  has  awaked  the  slumbering 
heart  of  Judah.  No  more  shall 
Joshua  be  Jason,  no  more  shall  the 

[30] 


ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMORABLE  BEFORE 

young  men  stand  naked  in  the  games, 
no  more  shall  this  people  be  wrapped 
in  many  sins." 

"  Thou  art  like  Athene  of  the  azure 
eyes  in  thy  wrath  divine,  but  be  not 
wroth  with  me,  my  goddess ;  for  what 
ever  gods  above  I  pray  to,  'tis  thee  on 
earth  I  worship.  In  supplication  do 
I  lay  hold  on  these  fair  hands  of  thine, 
and  will  not  let  them  go  until  thy 
radiant  smile  shines  forth  again." 

"  Thou  art,  indeed,  a  very  Greek 
with  thy  smiling  eyes  and  honeyed 
tongue.  But  loose  my  hands  for  my 
embroidery.  'Tis  almost  done,  my 
needle  has  not  far  to  go." 

"  Thy  hands  can  rest  a  while,  thy 
stitching  wait.  But  is  it  not  better, 
my  heart-enthralling  goddess,  to  be 
[31] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

a  laughter-loving,  beauty-seeking 
Greek  than  one  of  thy  rude  people, 
unsocial  and  morose?  The  world 
grows  brighter  where  the  Greek  has 
trod,  and  light  and  beauty  follow  in 
his  steps.  He  cries  unto  the  world 
'  Rejoice!  '  and  the  world  stands  in 
Hellas'  debt  to  the  farthest  end  of 
time.  But  why  flutter  thy  soft 
hands  within  my  own,  like  frightened 
fledgelings  in  their  nest?  Why 
lookest  thou  so  sad  and  wistful,  as  one 
who  sees  a  good  she  may  not  reach? 
or  as  one  who  sees  depart  from  her 
the  joy  she  may  no  longer  keep  ?  " 

"  My  soul  is  shadowed  with  dim 
forebodings  which  I  cannot  well 
explain.  Let  go  my  hands,  Bac- 
chides,  let  them  go.  My  task  is  yet 

[32] 


ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMORABLE  BEFORE 

unfinished,  and  the  sun  is  near  to 
setting.  I  must  hasten,  for  the  gift 
is  promised  for  this  night." 

"It  is  joy  to  watch  thy  skilful 
fingers  as  they  stitch  the  golden 
threads,  Arachne  of  this  later  day. 
Thou  hast  no  fear,  in  thy  deft  weav 
ing,  to  awake  the  envy  of  blue-eyed 
Pallas?  What  are  these  mystic 
letters  wrought  in  gold,  and  what 
their  meaning?  ?x 

"  '  Who  is  like  unto  Thee  among 
the  gods,  O  Eternal?'  That  is  the 
song  of  triumph  my  fathers  sang 
when  God  delivered  them  out  of  the 
house  of  bondage,  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt.  And  I  chose  this  device 
thinking,  perchance,  another  deliver 
ance  is  at  hand." 

[33] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 


. . 


And  the  deliverance  is  at  hand, 
prophetic  maid;  even  this  day 
Apelles,  the  King's  officer,  is  come  to 
strike  off  the  last  fetters  of  thy 
gloomy,  austere  creed.  And  thou 
shalt  know  the  joys  the  gods  of  Hellas 
grant  to  their  true  worshippers." 

"  The  joys  of  the  Dionysia  that 
even  the  idolatrous  Roman  looks  on 
with  horror  and  with  shamed  Thou 
art  right,  Bacchides,  the  Greek  cries 
to  the  world, '  Rejoice — in  the  lusts  of 
the  flesh!'  'Tis  the  creed  of  his 
wanton  gods." 

"  I  fear  me  much,  my  white-armed 
maid,  that  thou  hast  been  tainted  with 
thy  joyless  faith.  If  so,  it  were  a 
pity,  for  by  nature  thou  art  as  blithe 
as  any  nymph  whose  rippling 
[34] 


ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMOEABLE  BEFOEE 

laughter  wakes  the  echoes  of  the 
wood.  But  now  thy  tender  eyes  grow 
dark  and  stern,  and  a  cold  fear  creeps 
over  me  that  in  them  I  can  read 
hatred  for  myself." 

"  Hate  thee,  Bacchides?  Thee! 
Thou  almost  brother,  whom  I  cried 
for  as  a  tender,  little  weanling  maid 
when  my  own  brothers  pushed  me 
aside.  Hate  thee?  How  could  I? 
Were  not  our  fathers  friends  1  Hate 
thee!  Never,  never  that,  Bacchides.'" 

"  '  I  hate  thee  not '  are  poor,  cold 
words.  Canst  find  no  warmer  in  thy 
heart  for  thine  old  playfellow? — 
Struggle  not  so  hard,  little  hands, 
against  my  imprisoning  fingers.— 
Canst  not  whisper,  '  I  love  thee  '  ?  ' 

"  Thou  knowest  I  have  ever  held 
[35] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

thee  dear,  Bacchides, — let  go  my 
hands,  oh,  let  them  go, — dear  as  the 
brothers  of  my  father's  house.  Hark ! 
hearest  thou  naught,  Bacchides  ?  To 
me  there  seems  a  noise  of  shouting  in 
the  air.  Run  to  the  parapet,  and  look 
if  thou  aught  canst  see. ' ' 

1 '  Yes,  toward  the  seaward  city  gate 
there  are  crowds  and  shouting.  Ah, 
now  I  do  recall:  'tis  where  Apelles 
hath  set  up  the  altar  of  the  King,  who 
doth  command  the  sacrifice  unto 
Olympian  Zeus.  'Tis  there  thy  kins 
men,  Mattathias  and  his  five  sons, 
should  be.  I  must  away  to  gather 


news." 


"  Thou  wilt  gather  news  this  day, 
Bacchides,  that  the  unborn  nations, 
seedlings  in  the  womb  of  time,  shall 

[36] 


ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMORABLE  BEFORE 

read  in  awe  and  admiration,  for  the 
day  of  triumph  is  at  hand.      Haste 

away  and  bring  the  tidings." 
*       *       *       *       *       *       * 

"  There  is  tumult  in  the  city,  my 
beloved,  tumult  wild  and  fierce.  'Tis 
the  doing  of  thy  kinsman,  Mattathias. 
He  hath  slain  upon  the  altar  the  Jew 
Orestes,  who  was  about  to  sacrifice, 
obedient  to  the  King's  command. 
And  he  hath  slain  Apelles,  the  King's 
officer,  and  raised  the  standard  of 
revolt." 

"  All  these  things  I  know,  Bac- 
chides,  all  these  things  I  know.  But 
this  very  hour  my  kinsman,  Judas 
Maccabseus,  Judas  the  mighty  Siniter, 
hath  been  here  to  cry  unto  my 
father's  house  the  cry  of  Mattathias: 

[37] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

'  Whosoever  is  zealous  for  the  law 
and  maintaineth  the  covenant,  let 
him  follow  me.'  And  all  my  father's 
house  will  follow  to  the  mountains 
this  very  night." 

6  6  Knowest  thou  what  thou  speakest, 
my  beloved  ?  In  the  mountains  death 
and  hunger  wait.  And  the  King's 
host  in  Jerusalem  will  sweep  the 
mountains  bare,  and  every  one  of  ye 
will  perish.  And  thou,  my  treasure 
of  the  amber  hair,  wilt  perish,  too,  in 
all  thy  tenderness  and  beauty." 

"  If  I  perish,  then  I  perish. 
Thinkest  thou  I  am  the  first  Jewish 
woman  to  die  at  thy  mad  King's  com 
mands  ?  Have  not  his  servants  slain 
mothers,  and  hanged  their  dead  babes 
about  their  necks?  Am  I  more  fair 

[38] 


ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMOEABLE  BEFOEE 

and  tender  than  were  the  virgins  and 
mothers  of  Jerusalem  when  his 
accursed  hand  fell  heavily  upon  the 
city,  and  smote  it  very  sore?  " 

"  To  me,  my  beloved,  thou  art  the 
fairest  among  women,  a  very 
daughter  of  the  gods.  And  I  would 
save  thee  from  the  fearful  doom  that 
awaits  thy  cursed,  stiff-necked  nation. 
Come  with  me,  my  beloved,  come  with 
me.  Thou  shalt  be  as  Arete,  whom 
Alcinoiis  made  his  wife.  Thou  shalt 
be  honored  as  nowhere  else  on  earth 
is  woman  honored  who  has  charge 
over  her  husband's  household." 

"  Thy  wife,  Bacchides,  must  pour 
libations  to  thy  gods,  else  would 
Antiochus  Epimanes  command  her 
death." 

[39] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

"  And  thinkest  thou  that  I,  a  free- 
born  Greek,  of  an  Athenian  house, 
have  fear  of  Antiochus  ?  But  if  thou 
fearest,  O  beloved,  we  will  flee  to 
Alexandria,  or  even  to  Rome,  But 
come  quickly,  for  the  night  is  falling 
fast,  and  thy  brothers  will  return  to 
seek  thee  and  bear  thee  away  to  the 
mountains,  where  the  kites  and 
ravens  gather,  scenting  slaughter 
from  afar." 

"  Let  the  kites  and  ravens  gather 
from  afar,  we  fear  them  not.  For  as 
an  eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest,  flut- 
tereth  over  her  young,  and  spreadeth 
abroad  her  wings  to  bear  them  away, 
so  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  beareth  His 
children  to  safety,  on  eagle's  pinions 
beareth  He  them." 

[40] 


ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMORABLE  BEFORE 

"  Vain  words,  idle  words,  my  be 
loved.  For  if  this  God  of  thine  be  so 
mighty  to  save,  why  did  He  not 
stretch  forth  His  arm  to  save  Jeru 
salem,  His  city  and  His  Holy 
Place?" 

"  Because  this  is  a  people  wrapped 
in  many  sins,  this  is  a  people  that  hath 
sinned  grievously,  and  hath  strayed 
after  false  gods,  and  followed  the 
abominations  of  the  heathen.  But 
His  punishment  hath  been  for  a 
chastisement  and  a  correction.  He 
will  not  destroy  His  people,  nor  for 
sake  His  children,  for  the  Lord  is 
long-suffering  and  of  great  mercy, 
forgiving  iniquity  and  transgression. 
He  will  pardon  the  iniquity  of  this 
people  according  to  the  greatness 

[41] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

of  His  mercy.  And  the  day  of 
deliverance  is  at  hand,  the  day  of 
battle  when  the  Lord  of  hosts  shall 
triumph." 

"  But  thou,  O  thou,  my  beloved, 
wilt  die,  for  the  soldiers  of  Antiochus 
will  show  no  mercy." 

"  It  is  good,  being  put  to  death  by 
men,  to  look  for  hope  from  God,  to  be 
raised  up  by  Him  again." 

"  Put  aside  the  thoughts  of  gods, 
and  hearken  to  my  pleading  heart. 
For  is  not  love  mistress  of  the  world, 
my  eyes '  delight  ?  Is  not  even  mighty 
Zeus  to  Aphrodite  slave  ?  I  love  thee, 
love  thee,  love  thee!  And  I  know 
thou  lovest  me,  else  wouldst  thou  not 
lie  quiet  in  my  warm  embrace,  and 
yield  thy  lips  of  coral  to  my  kisses. 

[42] 


ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMOEABLE  BEFOEE 

Hath  life  aught  like  to  love,  my 
heart's  treasure?  " 

"  '  At  once  the  sweetest  and  the 
bitterest  thing  on  earth,'  so  sings  thy 
tragic  poet.  For  this  once  I  taste  its 
sweetness,  sweet  above  the  dream  of 
mortals.  For  this  once  I  put  my 
arms  about  thee,  hold  thee  close,  and 
stroke  thy  curling  hair.  In  this 
moment  do  I  drink  the  wine  of  life, 
for  the  days  to  come  are  left  only  the 
lees." 

"  What  meanest  thou  by  such  dark 
words,  O  beloved?  This  is  but  the 
first  sweet  draught,  but  the  first 
honeyed  sip  of  life's  wine,  my 
treasure,  and  together  we  will  daily 
quaff  its  joyous  cup.  Why  shakest 
thou  thine  amber  head  so  sadly,  my 
[43] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

beloved,    why   art   thou   become    so 
heavy  within  my  arms'?  " 

"  Because  the  bitterness  of  love  is 
come  upon  me,  O  my  loved  one,  tread 
ing  fast  upon  the  sweet.  For  one 
moment  was  I  the  maid  who  loved 
thee,  the  playfellow  of  thy  stripling 
youth,  thy  willing  pupil  in  thy  lore 
of  beauty.  But  with  this  kiss  the 
moment's  gone.  In  the  street  below 
I  hear  the  noise  of  hurrying  feet,  hear 
the  sound  of  many  voices,  hear  the 
voices  of  my  people,  hear  the  weeping 
and  the  chanting,  and  my  heart  goes 
to  my  people.  For  their  sake  I  hate 
the  Syrian  and  the  wanton  gods  of 
Hellas.  For  their  sake  I  leave  thee, 
O  Bacchides,  O  my  loved  one,  lest  I 
bring  sin  upon  my  nation,  lest  I  add 
[44] 


ONCE  IN  SOME  MEMORABLE  BEFORE 

another  grain  to  their  heavy  burden 
of  iniquity,  and  so  keep  back  the  day 
of  triumph.  Hark!  I  hear  my 
brothers'  voices.  They  come  again 
to  seek  me.  Stay  thou  here,  Bac- 
chides,  rest  thou  here  until  the  peril's 


over." 


"  I  cannot  let  thee  go,  my  heart's 
treasure,  my  beloved.  Thou  art  going 
to  death  and  torture.  Rather  would 
I  die  beside  thee." 

"  By  the  love  I  bear  thee,  by  the 
heart  I  leave  thee,  add  not  to  my 
heavy  sorrow  by  thy  reckless  death. 
Once  more  do  I  touch  thy  soft,  dear 
curls,  once  more  do  I  look  about  me 
where  we  two  have  spent  so  many 
happy  hours  together — Ah,  God  of 
Israel,  help  my  broken  heart." 

[45] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAft 

"  Alone!  Her  very  footsteps  lost, 
and  her  tears  not  yet  dry  upon  my 
arm. 

'  Zeus!    What  am  I  to  think?   Dost  thou  look  down 
Upon  the  ways  of  men,  or  have  we  dreamed 
An  idle  dream  in  fancying  there  are  gods?  '  " 


[46] 


Ill 

"  ON  SOME  FORTUNATE  YET 

THRICE  BLASTED 

SHORE " 


Ill 

SOME  FORTUNATE  YET  THRICE 
BLASTED  SHORE  " 

The  morning  sunlight  fell  into  a 
Moorish  courtyard  in  old  Seville,  and 
slanted  across  the  fountain  in  its 
centre.  Over  the  carved  marble  basin 
a  young  girl  leaned  feeding  the  fish 
in  the  sparkling  water.  A  golden, 
brooding  hush  lay  over  all,  save  for 
the  soft  plashing  of  the  water  in  the 
fountain.  The  gorgeous  tropical 
plants  were  as  motionless  as  the  ex 
quisite  arabesque  traceries  on  arch 
and  pillar.  The  girl  herself  was 
moveless,  the  food  slowly  filtering 
through  her  half -spread  fingers.  In 
[49] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

her  sweeping  robes  of  white,  in  her 
bowed  attitude  and  rapt  expression, 
she  might  have  been  some  priestess  at 
her  adoration  in  this  silent,  sunny 
garden. 

Suddenly,  upon  the  tessellated  floor, 
came  the  sound  of  booted  feet  and 
jingling  spurs.  The  girl  turned  in 
an  instant  and  faced  the  new-comer, 
a  man  dressed  in  green  velvet  and 
satin,  with  high  boots,  silver  spurs, 
and  a  sword  at  his  side.  The  lazy 
grace  and  haughty  temper  of  the 
Spaniard  were  visible  in  the  chival 
rous  gesture  with  which  he  swept  off 
his  plumed  hat,  and  bowed  low  to  the 
girl  before  him.  There  was  some 
thing  in  her  presence  that  made 
knightliest  courtesy  but  her  simple 
[50] 


THRICE  BLASTED  SHOKE 

due ;  in  her  bearing  were  written  the 
majesty  and  tragedy  of  fifteen  cen 
turies  of  suffering,  softened  for  the 
moment  by  the  freshness  and  tender 
ness  of  youth. 

She  was  in  spotless  white  from  the 
soft,  diaphanous  head  drapery, 
turned  back  on  her  raven  hair,  to  the 
trailing  folds  of  her  skirts;  all  in 
spotless  white,  save  for  one  vivid  note 
of  color:  a  square  of  deep  orange- 
yellow  worn  upon  the  bosom,  the 
badge  of  ecclesiastical  infamy.  The 
man  winced  inwardly  as  his  eyes  fell 
on  this  sign  of  cruel  fear,  but  his 
glance  cleared  as  it  travelled  upward 
to  the  girl's  face,  illumined  by  a  smile 
of  welcome  and  a  betraying  flush  of 
pleasure. 

[51] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

"  Ah,  Dona  Leah,"  he  cried  ad 
vancing  toward  her,  "  as  I  came  in, 
you  looked  so  like  a  blessed  saint  in 
Paradise,  I  was  sorely  tempted  to  fall 
at  your  feet  and  adore. " 

"  It  is  well,  Don  Pasquale,"  she 
smiled,  "  that  the  Inquisitor-General 
did  not  hear  you,  for  you  would 
have  had  to  perform  bitter  penance 
for  the  temptation,  before  your 
resistance  could  have  counted  aught 
for  you." 

"  But  there  is  one  temptation,"  he 
went  on,  looking  at  her  meaningly, 
"which  I  have  not  resisted,  and 
which  my  pious  mother  fears  will 
land  me  within  the  clutches  of  the 
Holy  Office." 

"God    forbid!"    cried    the    girl, 

[52] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOEE 

white  to  the  lips.  "  You  must  not 
come  here  again." 

"  Do  you  care  so  much  ?  "  he  asked, 
coming  nearer. 

"  Care !  Why,  I'd  give  my  body  to 
be  consumed  to  ashes  before  one  hair 
of  your  head  should  be  touched." 
The  ploughshare  of  terror  cut  down 
to  the  primitive  rock  of  human 
nature,  and  the  conventional  dis 
guises  of  society  crumbled  away 
before  its  keen  blade,  but  only  for  an 
instant.  Dona  Leah  suddenly  real 
ized  what  a  betrayal  of  herself  she 
had  made,  and  fell  back  a  step  or  two 
with  quiet  dignity,  as  she  said,  "  That 
heart  must  be  made  of  stone  and 
iron,  Don  Pasquale,  which  does  not 
quiver  with  terror  at  the  thought 

[53] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

of  the  Inquisition  for  any  human 
creature." 

"  So,  then,"  he  smilingly  persisted, 
"  I  am  just '  any  human  creature  '  ?  " 

"  You  know  better  than  that,"  she 
answered  simply.  "  A  woman's  heart 
is  always  tender  to  suffering,  but  it 
turns  with  double  tenderness  to  that 
which  has  clung  to  her  in  helpless 
ness,  whether  it  be  a  tiny  babe  or  a 
strong  man  on  a  bed  of  pain.  By  the 
skill  my  dear  father  (peace  be  upon 
his  soul!)  and  my  uncle  taught  me,  I 
was  able  to  heal  you  of  that  ugly 
wound  the  Moorish  Knight  of 
Granada  inflicted  upon  you,  and 
restore  you  whole  to  your  mother. 
She  would  not  thank  me,"  Dona  Leah 
smiled,  "  if  I  made  you  whole  only 
[54] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOKE 

that  you  might  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  Inquisition.  God  forbid!  But 
tell  me,  how  is  your  mother?  r' 

"  She  is  very  pious,  thank  you," 
Don  Pasquale  answered  with  a  sud 
den  clouding  of  his  face. 

"  Speak  not  in  that  tone  of  your 
mother,"  gravely  rebuked  Leah,  "a 
mother  who  loves  her  son  as  she  does 
you.  You  say  she  is  pious  in  a  tone 
that  makes  one  believe  you  do  not 
account  it  a  virtue  to  her.  Yet  let  me 
remind  you  she  once  set  her  precious 
piety  aside  for  you.  Which,  think 
you,  was  the  stronger,  ner  love  of 
child  or  love  of  Church,  when  she 
defied  the  priests,  and  sent  for  the 
Jewess  to  heal  her  son?  " 

"  That  was  God's  mercy.  If  those 
[55] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

asses  of  leeches  had  bled  me  once 
more,  they  would  have  drained  my 
veins  dry ;  and  my  mother  would  have 
had  no  son." 

"  But  have  you  ever  counted  her 
cost?  In  order  to  make  your  body 
whole  she  had  to  imperil  her  soul, 
according  to  your  Church's  teach 
ings." 

"  Yes;  and  now  she  is  as  ready  to 
imperil  my  body  to  make  my  soul 
whole.  She  has  been  setting  her  con 
fessor  after  me,  and  it's  only  you 
again  who  can  save  me  from  the 

priest." 
"If  » 

"  It  is  your  manifest  duty,"  he 
went  on  gaily.  "  You  restored  me  to 
life,  and  now  it  behooves  you  to  pre- 

[56] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOEE 


vent  any  harm  coming  to  me  through 
you.  Surely  that  is  simple  logic." 

"  Senor,  is  this  a  jest?  If  so,  it  is 
a  cruel  one,"  she  cried  reproachfully, 
her  hands  nursed  close  against  her 
breast  to  hide  their  fluttering. 

"  Is  this  a  jest?  No  more  a  jest 
than  when  you  set  your  delicate  foot 
on  my  body,  and  drew  the  Moorish 
spear-head  from  my  side." 

"  That  task  my  simple  skill  in  heal 
ing  made  clear  to  me,  but  now?  "  she 
paused  inquiringly. 

"  The  task  is  simpler  still,"  he 
came  very  close  to  her.  "  Now  you 
have  but  to  put  your  hand  in  mine, 
and  promise  to  stand  by  my  side 
through  life.  Surely  you  know  I 
love  you — you  must  have  known  it 

[57] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

ever  since  I  kissed  your  fair,  cool 
hands  as  they  soothed  my  pain." 

"  That  was  sick  man's  gratitude, " 
smiled  Leah. 

"  Well,  this  is  well  man's  love, 
then,"  he  answered  with  a  sudden 
flare  of  passion.  "  Do  you  suppose 
it  was  mere  gratitude  brought  me 
here  day  after  day  ?  Don't  you  know 
why  I  came?  ' 

"  You  said,"  and  a  faint  shadow 
of  a  smile  hovered  at  the  bea,utiful 
corners  of  her  mouth,  "  you  said  it 
was  to  gain  my  revered  uncle's  advice 
on  the  management  of  your  late 
father's  estates." 

"  And  how  long  is  it,"  he  asked 
mockingly,  "  since  the  revered  uncle 
set  out  for  Toledo  ?  Ah,  believe  me, 

[58] 


THRICE  BLASTED  SHORE 

Senorita,  it  was  the  niece  only  that 
brought  Don  Pasquale  de  Ximenes 
to  the  Jews'  Quarter,  to  the  daily 
peril  of  his  soul  and  the  hourly  joy 
of  his  heart — just  Love  who  laughs 
at  creeds  as  he  laughs  at  locksmiths. 
Why,  I  have  loved  you  since  the 
moment  I  found  your  beautiful  face 
bending  over  my  pillow  like  an 
angel's  out  of  heaven,  and  you  love 
me.  I  know  it.  I  have  read  it  in 
your  face,  in  your  voice,  in  your 
terror  at  the  thought  of  harm  befall 
ing  me." 

A  silence  followed  his  eager,  as 
sured  words,  and  a  little  of  love's 
humility  fell  upon  him.  "  You  do 
love  me — a  little  bitl  "  he  asked 
almost  timidly. 

[59] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

"  And  what  would  Don  Pasquale 
de  Ximenes,  Marquis  of  Alcantara, 
Lord  of  Badajos,  Knight  of  Santiago, 
with  the  love  of  a  Jewess'?  Love  is 
only  for  equals." 

"  But  in  the  bosom  of  Holy  Mother 
Church  all  are  equals.  At  the  bap 
tismal  font  the  Jewish  taint  would  be 
washed  away,  and  at  the  altar  I  would 
wed  my  heart's  desire." 

"  Would  you  wed  a  forsworn 
woman?  Have  a  perjured  Jewess 
for  the  mother  of  your  sons?  That 
were,  indeed,  the  mala  sangre." 

"Talk  not  to  me  now  of  the  mala 
sangre.  Love  has  conquered  my  very 
pride  of  blood.  Surely,  too,  the 
Lords  of  Alcantara  have  given  arch 
bishops  enough,  and  cardinals,  too,  to 

[60] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOES 

the  Holy  Church  to  counterbalance 
one  New-Christian." 

"And  so  Don  Pasquale  de  Ximenes 
would  wed  a  Marrano,"  asked  Leah, 
quietly,  letting  her  hands  slowly  fall 
to  her  sides,  "  and  bring  the  Inquisi 
tion  on  his  lordly  house?  v 

6 '  A  Marrano  ?  Never !  A  Marrano 
is  accursed  of  man  and  God.  Tis 
to  weed  them  out,  accursed  vermin, 
to  root  them  out,  the  Holy  Office  has 
been  established." 

"  And  still,  Don  Pasquale,  there 
never  was  yet  a  New-Christian  who 
was  not  a  Marrano,  a  hidden  Jew, 
at  heart.  Whatever  the  bait  of 
wealth  and  honors  that  lured  him, 
whatever  the  lash  of  persecution  that 
drove  him  into  the  arms  of  the 
[61] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

Church,  he  will  always  cry  the  '  Hear, 
O  Israel '  at  the  great  moments  of  his 
life.  And  if  the  men  should  forget — 
could  forget,  there  are  always  the 
women.  You  may  baptize  a  Jewess, 
yes,  all  but  drown  her  in  holy  water, 
but  you  cannot  wash  the  Judaism  out 
of  her  heart,  and  the  child  that  lies 
under  her  heart  will  feel  the  old  faith 
throbbing  in  his  veins  even  from  his 
quickening.  I  know  it,  for  I  have 
seen.  The  forsworn  Jew  has  been  a 
hypocrite  and  a  coward,  and  the  God 
of  his  fathers  whom  he  forsook, 
through  pride  of  earth  or  fear  of 
death,  has  brought  a  terrible  chastise 
ment  upon  him,  even  by  means  of 
those  very  priests  who  led  him  to  sin. 
But  purged  by  fire  and  cleansed  from 

[62] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOEE 

his  backsliding,  Israel  will  return 
again  unto  his  Father's  house,  and  be 
forgiven  as  in  days  of  old.  Pardon, 
Seiior,  I  was  thinking  aloud,  and  had 
forgotten  your  presence.  Perhaps  it 
is  just  as  well  you  heard.  They  are 
the  thoughts  of  my  heart,  and  they 
show — what  can  never  be.  Go  in 
peace,  Don  Pasquale,  and  come  no 
more. ' '  And  the  girl  turned  to  enter 
the  house,  her  fluttering  hands  nursed 
close  against  her  breast. 

Don  Pasquale  started  as  from  a 
trance  at  the  soft  trail  of  her  gar 
ments  over  the  tiled  floor.  He  had 
watched  her  with  a  feeling  akin  to 
superstitious  awe.  A  misty  remem 
brance  of  the  prophets  of  her  ancient 
race  and  religion,  added  to  her  spirit 
[63] 


I5HAT.INCI   S1<A   AND  ClIANOKLUSS   I'.AR 

of  exaltation,  gave  her  an  aloofness, 
an  apartness  from  him  and  his  world 
(hat,  for  the  moment,  deadened  all 
sense  of  warmer,  more  intimate  asso 
ciation.  But  her  simple  words  of 
dismissal  and  her  movement  to  leave 
.him  broke  the  spell  that  was  on  him. 
No  longer  was  he  an  awe-struck  lis 
tener  before  a  priestess  voicing  Clod's 
doom  upon  His  people,  but.  a  passion 
ate,  self-willed  man  who  saw  the 
desire  of  his  heart  slip  through  his 
fingers. 

He  was  fast  on  her  heels.  "  Ah, 
Senorita,  it  is  easier  said  than  done: 
'  Go  and  come  no  more/ 

"  Then  must  you  begin  to  learn  the 
lesson,  Don  Pasquale,  that  I  have 
learned  betimes— that  life  is  not  made 
[64] 


THRICE  BLASTED  SHORE 

up  of  easy  things/'  she  answered, 
pausing-  a  moment  without  facing 
him. 

"  Surely  you  who  know  so  much," 
he  pleaded,  "  must  know  that  love  is 
the  greater  part  of  life." 

"  For  others,  yes.  For  me  it  is  the 
death  of  all  a  woman's  heart  holds 
dearest.  Now  you  know  my  soul's 
secret,  be  merciful  and  go,"  she  sud 
denly  cried,  turning  toward  him  with 
an  imploring  gesture.  He  caught 
her  outflung  hand,  and  kissed  it 
reverently,  for  her  cry  of  anguish 
stilled  the  passion  in  his  heart. 

As  Don  Pasquale  left  the  house,  he 
brushed  against  a  heavy-set  young 
Andalusian  peasant,  seemingly  a  car 
ter,    who    was    disputing    with    the 
[65] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

middle-aged  man  who  served  Dona 
Leah  as  porter.  He  paid  no  attention 
to  either,  but  hastened  on  his  way, 
his  one  desire  to  escape  from  familiar 
sights  and  sounds.  Just  outside  the 
gate  of  the  Jews'  Quarter,  he  ran  into 
his  mother's  confessor,  whom  he  did 
not  recognize  as  he  mechanically 
apologized  for  his  awkwardness. 
Pray  Bartolommeo  called  after  him, 
but  Pasquale  heard  nothing,  heeded 
nothing  as  he  hurried  along. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  dispute  at  the 
door  waxed  louder,  till  the  sound  of 
it  reached  the  courtyard  where  Leah 
still  stood  as  Don  Pasquale  had  left 
her.  The  noise  aroused  her  from  her 
stupor  of  pain.  Suddenly  the  carter 
and  his  partner,  who  had  joined  him, 

[66] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHORE 

pushed  past  the  porter,  and  made 
their  way  into  the  courtyard.  The 
silent,  white  figure  struck  the  second 
man  as  uncanny.  "  What's  that?" 
he  muttered  to  his  companion. 

".Only  the  Jew's  daughter,"  he 
answered  re-assuringly. 

"  What  do  these  strange  men  seek 
here?"  demanded  Leah  of  her  ser 
vant,  who  had  followed  the  intruders 
he  was  powerless  to  keep  out. 

"  I  want  the  money  owing  to  me 
from  Jusef  the  Jew  for  carrying  two 
chests  from  Cordova  here,"  the  carter 
answered  her  himself. 

"It  is  not  a  just  debt,"  cried  the 
servant,  "  it  has  been  paid." 

"  "Tis  a  lie.  My  partner  here  is 
witness." 

[67] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

"  You  need  bring  no  false  witnesses 
here,"  interrupted  Leah.  "  Don 
Jusef  owes  no  man  a  just  debt.  If 
the  money  was  really  owing  you, 
why  didn't  you  come  for  it  before? 
I  have  seen  you  often  passing  through 
the  town.  I  know  you  well,  you  are 
Geronimo,  the  son  of  Chispa,  the 
miller.  You  think  because  the  master 
is  away,  you  can  come  into  a  peaceful 
household  and  fright  the  inmates  with 
your  false  debts  and  false  witnesses. 
Out  upon  your  boorish  manners.  Be 
gone,  I  say !  And  be  thankful  that  I 
do  not  hand  you  over  to  the  Alguazil. ' ' 

"  You're    liker    to    come    to    the 

Alguazil 's  hands  yourself  for  your 

dealings    with    Christian    gallants," 

was  the  insolent  answer.     "And  may 

[68] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOEE 

an  evil  death  speedily  come  upon  you 
and  your  whole  tribe ! ' : 

"  Mind  your  tongue  and  mend 
your  manners.  And  remember  that 
not  one  of  us  will  meet  death  an  hour 
the  sooner  for  your  evil  wish,  but  look 
you  to  it  that  you  do  not  fall  from 
your  cart  some  night  in  a  drunken 
doze,  and  the  wheels  pass  over  you. 
Now  go,  and  let  me  not  see  your  dis 
honest  face  again."  And  Doiia  Leah 
never  more  set  eyes  on  Geronimo,  the 
son  of  Chispa,  the  miller,  for,  the 
second  morning  after,  a  travelling 
monk  came  upon  his  body  lying  on 
the  Cordova  road,  his  skull  crushed 
where  the  heavy  cart  wheels  had 
passed  over  it. 

It  was  Don  Pasquale  who  brought 

[69] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

Leah  news  of  the  carter's  death. 
During  the  lull  of  the  afternoon  siesta 
he  stole  into  the  Jews'  Quarter,  and 
made  his  way  unseen  to  Jusef  Tor- 
ralba's  house.  The  door  leading  to 
the  court  was  open  and  unguarded. 
A  dull,  hot  quiet  lay  upon  the  garden 
like  a  drugged  slumber.  Don  Pas- 
quale  made  his  way  to  a  large,  low 
room  on  the  ground  floor,  which  the 
learned  doctor  used  as  a  study  and  a 
work-room.  It  was  furnished  with 
fine  old  carved  chests  full  of  rare 
manuscripts,  several  tables  covered 
with  scrolls  and  writing  material,  and 
two  comfortable  carved  arm-chairs. 
The  other  end  of  the  room  was  fitted 
up  as  a  laboratory,  with  a  small  fur 
nace,  and  a  collection  of  chemist's 

[70] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOKE 

utensils.  It  was  here  Don  Pasquale 
found  Leah  distilling  some  healing 
cordial.  She  was  so  intent  upon  her 
work,  and  he  had  come  so  cautiously, 
she  never  heard  him  till  he  called  her 
name. 

"  You  here  again,  Don  Pasquale?  " 
she  cried,  the  joy  in  her  eyes  belying 
the  scant  welcome  of  her  words. 

"  Never  to  leave  you  again, "  he 
answered. 

"  What  do  you  mean?  "  she  asked, 
a  sudden  fear  coming  over  her  as  she 
saw  his  set  face. 

"  It  means  I  have  come  to  save  my 
love  and  your  life.  This  day,  even 
this  very  hour  for  aught  I  know,  you 
will  have  to  choose  between  the 
Church  and  death,  for  it  is  known  to 
[71] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

the  Holy  Office  that  Don  Pasquale 
Ximenes  has  for  many  weeks  daily 
visited  the  Jews'  Quarter.  It  is  whis 
pered  he  has  Judaized,  and  it  is 
openly  said  that  the  Jewess  Leah,  the 
niece  of  the  Eabbi  Torralba,  has  led 
him  astray." 

"  It  were  nearer  the  truth  to  say 
you  sought  to  lead  me  astray,"  she 
answered  with  the  gleam  of  a  smile. 

"And  that  must  ~be  the  truth.  That 
would  make  the  meaning  of  my  visits 
clear  to  the  Holy  Tribunal.  Don't 
you  know  it  would  redound  to  the 
everlasting  glory  of  my  soul  to  pluck 
such  a  brand  from  the  burning? 
Come,  put  your  hand  in  mine,  beloved, 
and  go  with  me  to  my  mother.  And 
like  the  melting  of  the  snow  in  the 
[72] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOEE 

sunshine  will  be  the  forgetting  of  the 
perfidious  sins  of  Leah  the  Jewess  in 
the  Christian  virtues  of  the  Marquesa 
de  Alcantara." 

"  And  must  we  thresh  this  all 
again?"  asked  the  girl,  wearily. 
"  To  what  good?  I  could  not,  if  I 
would,  lay  hold  of  your  Gods. 
Naught  that  is  written  in  your  books 
is  truth  to  me.  If  it  be  truth,  why  do 
not  those  who  have  gone  over  to  wor 
ship  it  remain  steadfast  therein? 
Why  do  they  turn  again  to  the  Old 
Law,  even  at  the  peril  of  torture  and 
flame?  Would  you,"  she  suddenly 
asked  of  him,  "  would  you  become  of 
my  faith,  become  a  Jew,  at  my 
prayer?  " 

The  haughty  Castilian  noble  re- 
[73] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

coiled  involuntarily  at  the  mere 
thought.  The  girl's  keen  eyes  caught 
the  shudder  of  repulsion.  "  Ah,  you 
think  the  very  thought  base  shame; 
and  yet  with  the  bribe  of  love  you 
seek  to  lead  me  to  a  baser  shame,  you 
would  have  me  forsake  the  ancient 
Law  for  earthly  profit.  Ah,  surely 
never  before  was  one  of  my  people 
tempted  with  so  dear  a  bribe.  Wealth 
is  naught  to  me  who  have  abundance 
of  my  own.  Power  and  position  I 
know,  for  I  am  even  as  a  princess 
among  my  own  people,  being  the 
daughter  of  my  beloved  father — 
peace  be  upon  his  soul! — and  the 
niece  of  my  revered  uncle.  But  thy 
love  is  a  precious  possession  above  all 
things  of  earth,  and  to  be  free  to  hold 
[74] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHORE 

it  before  the  sight  of  men  would  be  as 
a  crown  of  glory.  And  then,  too,  it 
would  be  sweet  to  be  counted  as  others 
are — a  woman,  a  fellow  human  being, 
and  not  a  badged  outcast.  Oh,  it 
is  a  beautiful  dream,  but  only  a 
dream,  my  beloved.  Not  for  thy 
love's  sake,  nay,  not  even  to  save  thy 
life  would  I  forswear  the  God  of  my 
fathers." 

"  The  question  is  of  your  life, 
not  mine,"  Don  Pasquale  ,  grimly 
answered. 

"Ah,  now  you  seek  to  fright  me 
with  a  senseless  fear,"  and  again  a 
smile  gleamed  in  her  eyes.  "  I  am 
a  Jewess,  and  the  Holy  Office  deals 
with  New-Christians  only." 

"And  witches,"  he  added  briefly. 
[75] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 


'Witches!'  Leah  echoed  dully, 
her  mind  groping  for  his  meaning. 

"  Yes,  witches,  my  beloved.  How 
else  can  my  uncle,  the  Grand  Inquisi 
tor's  right  hand,  explain  to  his 
brethren  of  the  Holy  Tribunal  his 
nephew's  infatuation  for  a  Jewess, 
if  Leah  Torralba  be  not  a  sorceress? 
Why,  the  priests  have  already  made 
my  mother  believe  that  you  healed 
my  wound  by  the  aid  of  witchcraft — 
mere  human  skill  could  never  have 
done  it,  they  say.  And  the  town  is 
full  of  the  curse  you  laid  on  Gero- 
nimo,  the  carter,  and  its  fulfilment  on 
the  Cordova  road  the  night  after. 
You  know  he  was  found  dead  with  his 
skull  crushed  in  by  the  cart  wheels 
passing  over  it,  as  you  predicted." 

[76] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOKE 

"  Oh!  "  and  Leah  drew  in  her 
breath  with  horror. 

"  And  Maria  Pareydi  has  confessed 
that  you  raised  her  child  from  the 
dead  by  magic,  and  is  now  doing 
penance  for  having  accepted  your 
accursed  aid." 

"  Why,  the  child  had  teething 
convulsions,  and  I  put  it  in  hot  water 
to  free  the  evil  humor  in  its  blood," 
protested  Leah. 

"  Think  you  the  Holy  Office  takes 
note  of  anything  so  simple  as  a  humor 
in  the  blood  ?  "  was  Pasquale's  bitter 
comment.  "  Moreover  Juan  Pedro 
has  sworn  that  his  mule  dropped  dead 
at  a  glance  from  your  eye,  just  be 
cause  he  would  not  make  room  for 
you  in  the  crowded  Prado." 
[77] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

"  He  was  belaboring  the  poor, 
starved  brute,  and  I  said  to  him  in 
passing,  that  God  loved  the  man  who 
was  merciful  to  his  beast,  whereupon 
he  answered  me  with  rude  insult.  I 
then  bid  him  beware  lest  his  blows 
should  be  as  bad  as  his  words,  and  he 
lose  his  beast  as  he  had  lost  his 
manners."  Then,  a  moment  later, 
she  slowly  asked,  studying  him  keenly 
the  while,  u  Surely,  Don  Pasquale, 
you  do  not  believe  these  gossips' 
tales?  You  do  not  take  me  for  a 
witch?"  At  the  very  thought,  a 
ghost  of  a  smile  lurked  at  the  corners 
of  her  mouth. 

"  Believe!  Why  I  believe  you  as 
pure  and  free  from  taint  as  God's 
own  mother.  But  'tis  not  what  I 

[78] 


THRICE  BLASTED  SHORE 

believe,  beloved,  but  what  the  Holy 
Office  believes,  that  will  help  you.  Oh, 
can  you  not  see,  my  heart's  dearest, 
that  only  your  baptism  will  clear 
their  understanding,  so  that  they  will 
see  that  Geronimo  met  the  deserved 
fate  of  a  drunken  lout,  and  Juan 
Pedro's  mule  died  of  his  master's 
brutality?  Once  you  are  a  daughter 
of  the  Church,  your  healing  powers 
will  be  the  gift  of  God,  as  now  they 
are  accounted  of  the  Devil." 

"  Look  at  me,  my  joy  and  my 
sorrow,  look  at  me.  You  love  me,  yet 
you  despise  the  people  I  come  from, 
and  would  have  me  false  to  every  tie 
of  blood.  Is  there  honor  in  that,  my 
Knight?  You  worship  three  Gods 
and  pray  to  a  woman,  and  would  have 
[79] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

me,  unbelieving,  bend  the  knee  at 
your  altars.  Is  there  truth  in  that? 
Do  you  still  ask  me  to  perjure 
myself?  " 

"  Yes,"  he  answered  passionately, 
"  I  would  save  your  life  at  any  cost. 
I  love  you,  I  would  keep  you  at  any 
price.  I  know  the  fearful  ordeal  in 
store  for  you.  Surely,  my  darling, 
it  is  a  sin  against  God  to  throw  away 
one's  life.  And  you  are  so  young,  so 
beautiful,  it  maddens  me  to  think  of 
what  will  befall  you.  Come  with  me, 
my  beloved/'  he  implored,  seizing  her 
in  his  arms.  "  Come  with  me.  With 
love  in  this  life,  what  care  we  for 
any  other?  Oh,  come  with  me,  my 
heart's  treasure!  ' 

"Ah,  God,  if  I  but  might,"  she 
[80] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOKE 

cried  under  the  rain  of  his  passionate 
kisses,  and  he  felt  love  had  conquered. 
But  fast  on  the  heels  of  triumph  came 
undeceiving. 

The  two  lovers  had  been  so  absorbed 
in  each  other,  they  had  not  heeded 
that  the  courtyard  had  become  filled 
with  people,  Jews  of  the  Quarter, 
stray  stragglers  of  the  city,  and 
officers  of  the  Holy  Tribunal.  It  was 
the  piercing  shriek  of  her  old  woman 
servant,  who  had  been  her  nurse  in 
her  motherless  babyhood,  that  aroused 
Leah.  The  old  nurse  realized  only 
too  well  that  this  visit  boded  no  good 
to  her  young  mistress. 

Leah  wrenched  herself  free  from 
Pasquale's  arms,  and  went  swiftly  to 
the  one  window  that  commanded  the 
[81] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

court.  '  '  They  have  come, ' '  she  whis 
pered  as  in  a  dream,  "  they  have 
come."  Then  suddenly  the  mean 
ing  of  that  dark,  sinister  group 
burst  upon  her,  and  she  sprang  back 
from  the  window,  crying  hoarsely, 
"Oh,  God,  save  me!  Save  me, 
Pasquale!  " 

"  I  will,  my  own,  I  will,"  clasping 
her  close,  whilst  she  clung  to  him  in 
terror,  youth  and  life  revolting  at  the 
nearness  of  pain  and  death.  "  Put 
your  hand  in  mine,  and  together  we 
will  go  out  and  ask  them  what  the 
Inquisition  wishes  of  the  Marquis  of 
Alcantara's  future  wife." 

"  I  dare  not,"  she  cried,  "  I  cannot 
before  my  people.  Great  God,  give 
me  strength,"  freeing  herself  from 
[82] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOEE 

his  restraining  embrace,  "  I  must  go 
alone. " 

"  Leah,  Leah,  I  beseech  you,  I 
implore  you,"  he  began,  when  the 
meaning  of  her  words  was  made  plain 
by  her  movement  to  the  door.  "  Do 
you  realize,  child,  it  is  death,  torture, 
you  are  going  to?  If  you  have  no 
mercy  on  yourself,  have  you  no  love 
for  me?  " 

There  came  a  heavy  knocking  at 
the  door.  Her  servants  had  sought 
for  her  through  the  house,  purposely 
leaving  the  study  to  the  last,  in  the 
futile  hope  that  some  means  of  sav 
ing  her  might  be  devised. 

"  In  a  minute,  in  a  minute.  I  am 
coming,"  she  called,  answering  the 
knock,  and  her  voice  had  almost  its 
[83] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

natural  tone.  She  swept  a  long,  slow 
glance  about  her,  and  in  it  Pasquale 
read  hesitation.  Her  eyes  rested  on 
him  with  infinite  tenderness  but  with 
something  of  the  aloofness  of  the 
dying.  Then  she  softly  cautioned, 
as  the  knock  was  impatiently  re 
peated,  "  Stay  you  here,  beloved,  till 
we  are  gone,  lest  evil  befall  you." 
And  Don  Pasquale  stood  alone,  dazed, 
paralyzed,  before  this  awful  affliction. 
The  passing  of  the  procession  into  the 
street  roused  him,  but  to  madness, 
and,  reckless  of  all  consequences,  he 
rushed  forth  blindly,  with  drawn 
sword,  to  rescue  the  woman  he  loved. 
He  fell  upon  the  guards  and  wounded 
two,  but  was  overcome  by  numbers, 
for  a  great  crowd  had  assembled,  in 

[84] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOEE 

the  mysterious  way  crowds  do  assem 
ble,  to  see  the  Jewish  witch  come  to 

her  just  deserts. 

•*###### 

Leah  Torralba  was  tried  by  the 
Holy  Inquisition  on  three  counts: 

I.  Violating  the  Sixth  Article  of  the 
Papal  Bull  of  Benedict  XIII,  issued 
at  Valencia,  May  11,  1415,  which  ex 
pressly    forbade    Jews    to    practice 
medicine  or  surgery  on  Christians. 

II.  Attempting  to  convert  a  Christian 
Knight,  Don  Pasquale  de  Ximenes  to 
Judaism.    III.  Practicing  witchcraft 
and  magic. 

For  the  first  crime  she  could  be 
heavily  fined ;  for  the  second  diabolic 
offense  she  could  be  condemned  to 
terrible  and  solitary  imprisonment  at 

[85] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

the  good  pleasure  of  the  Holy  Office, 
but  only  for  the  third  outrageous  sin 
could  she  be  put  to  death;  and  only 
her  death  could  rescue  the  ensnared 
soul  of  Don  Pasquale  de  Ximenes 
from  her  damnable  toils,  Don  Pas 
quale  who  in  his  dungeon  raved  the 
most  horrible  blasphemies  against 
the  Inquisition,  against  God  and 
man. 

Day  by  day,  inch  by  inch,  the  girl 
fought  for  her  life,  alone,  before  the 
Holy  Tribunal,  proclaiming  her  un 
shakable  belief  in  the  God  of  her  fa 
thers,  and  protesting  her  innocence  of 
the  practice  of  magic.  Neither  the 
rack  for  her  delicate  body,  nor  the  tor 
ture  of  sleeplessness  for  her  harassed 
mind,  could  wring  a  confession  of 
[86] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHORE 

witchcraft  from  her.  But  where  the 
instruments  of  God  failed,  a  woman's 
wit  succeeded. 

The  boon  of  sleep  was  granted  her 
to  make  the  new  ordeal  the  more 
effective.  Then  in  the  pitchy  black 
ness  of  the  cell  she  heard  a  voice,  a 
voice  that  held  something  familiar 
even  to  her  dulled,  sleep-heavy  hear 
ing.  And  all  the  voice  said  was, 
"  They  are  bearing  Mm  to  the 
torture." 

"  Him?  Don  Pasquale?  "  and  sleep 
fled  before  terror  and  anguish. 

"  Yes,  and  you  can  save  him." 

"I?  How?  How?  "  eagerly  facing 
the  direction  the  voice  came  from  in 
the  darkness. 

"  Confess  you  bewitched  him." 
[87] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

"  God  have  mercy  on  my  tortured 
soul,"  murmured  the  girl. 

"Will  you  let  him  die  now  when 
you  gave  him  back  to  life  ?  Will  you 
let  him  die  because  of  you?  If  you 
do  not  confess,  they  will  put  him  to 
death,  too,  my  son,  my  joy,  the  pride 
of  my  soul !  Oh,  girl,  are  you  made 
of  rock  that  you  heed  not  the  mother 
who  bore  him?  Will  you  let  them 
torture  him?  " 

"  My  God,  forgive  me!  I  cannot 
let  him  suffer.  Dona  Elvira,  I  will 
save  him.'7 

"  You  will  confess?  " 

"  I  will  confess." 

Then  straightway  there  was  the 
sound  of  feet  upon  the  paved  floor, 
and  lanterns  were  brought,  and  Leah 

[88] 


THEICE  BLASTED  SHOEE 

Torralba  was  led  away  to  that  dread 
Tribunal  which  knew  neither  night 
nor  day.  And  there  with  dull  itera 
tion  and  reiteration  of  the  same  few 
words,  she  told  how  with  magic  and 
incantations  she  had  cured  and  be 
witched  the  Christian  Knight,  Don 
Pasquale  de  Ximenes.  Under  the 
agonizing  strain  her  mind  reeled,  and 
there,  with  her  mad  laughter  ringing 
in  their  ears,  Leah  Torralba  was  con 
demned  by  the  Holy  Office  to  be 
burned  to  death  as  a  pestiferous 
witch,  and  relaxed  to  the  secular  arm, 
for  the  merciful  Church  takes  not 
life. 

Once  more  within  the  black  silence 
of  her  dungeon,  overwrought  mind 
and  body  gave  way,  and  merciful 

[89] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

unconsciousness  fell  upon  the  tor 
tured  soul.  Madness  comes  not  with 
a  day,  and  when  she  waked  to  earth 
again,  her  mind  was  clear  to  meet  her 
death.  And  in  the  glorious  autumn 
tide  of  1485,  at  the  Quemadera  of 
Seville,  Leah  Torralba  met  a  death 
of  infamy  and  flame,  for  the  love  of 
one  God  and  one  man. 

And  the  one  man  forsook  the  home 
of  his  fathers  and  the  mother  who 
bore  him,  and  became  a  wanderer 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  And 
when  he  died,  those  who  prepared 
him  for  burial  found  hanging  about 
his  neck  a  little  orange-yellow  bag, 
containing  a  tiny  sealed  packet  of 
oiled  silk,  which,  when  they  opened 
it,  they  found  held  naught  but  a  bit 

[90] 


THRICE  BLASTED  SHORE 

of  charred  bone  and  a  few  pinches  of 
pearl-gray  ash.  These  they  re-sealed 
and  reverently  placed  over  his  heart 
again,  saying,  "  Doubtless  'tis  the 
sacred  relic  of  some  blessed  saint,  who 
will  help  him  win  his  way  to  Para 
dise.  " 


[91] 


IV 

SO  HESITATE  AND  TUBN 
AND  CLING —YET  GO  " 


IV 

"  So  HESITATE  AND  TURN  AND 
CLING,— YET  Go  " 

"  I  played  the  devil  once,"  Tamar 
remarked. 

"  I  should  say  more  than  once," 
Bayard  Tyndall  removed  his  cigar 
ette  long  enough  to  reply. 

Unheeding  the  interruption,  "  It 
was  when  I  was  a  child,"  she  went  on 
reminiscently.  "  We  lived  in  Phoe 
nix  City  then — not  the  Phoenix  you 
know,  but  a  straggling,  rough-and- 
tumble  mining  camp  that  clambered 
up  the  hill-slopes  on  each  side  of  the 
gulch,  with  a  dear,  distracting  China 
town  at  its  head.  Oh,  how  I  loved 

[95] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

that  Chinatown!  Its  joys  were  my 
joys,  and  its  sorrows,  my  keenest 
delight.  Life  held  nothing  then  that 
for  pure,  unalloyed  pleasure  equalled 
a  Chinese  funeral.  I  was  too  little 
to  tramp  along  with  the  boys  to  the 
cemetery  where  the  funeral  baked 
meats  were  openly  set  forth  upon  the 
celestial  grave,  but  I  could  run 
behind,  for  part  of  the  way,  and  pick 
up  the  gaudy  red  and  gold  paper 
squares  that  were  scattered  along  the 
road  by  the  mourners  to  distract  the 
attention  of  the  devil  from  the  corpse. 
They  must  have  been  satisfied  that  I 
was  the  devil,  for  no  one  ever 
molested  me  in  the  performance  of 
his  duty.  Do  you  suppose,"  she 
judicially  inquired,  "  it  was  the 

[96] 


TUKN  AND  CLING —YET  GO 

Oriental  within  me  that  led  me  to  take 
so  intense  an  interest  in  things  so 
alien,  or  just " 

"  It  always  gives  me  a  desire  to 
shake  you/'  interrupted  Tyndall, 
"  when  I  hear  you  talking  that  non 
sense  about  the  Oriental  in  you." 
There  was,  indeed,  an  almost  percep 
tible  note  of  irritation  in  his  rather 
slow  speech.  "  Why,  it's  the  rankest 
absurdity  to  hear  you  call  yourself 
an  Oriental,  you  with  your  gray  eyes 
and  brown  hair, — " 

"And  Aryan  face,  as  a  Johnnie  in 
Berlin  called  it,"  laughed  Tamar. 

"  Why,  you're  almost  as  perfect  a 
type  of  Teuton  as  I  am  of  Celt,"  he 
went  on,  critically  examining  her 
face. 

[97] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

"  Oh,  that  but  proves  the  repre 
hensible  adaptability  of  my  race,  our 
chameleon-like  capacity  to  take  on, 
not  only  the  color  of  the  world's 
thought,  but  even  the  world's  very 
features." 

"All  that  stuff  about  race  is  rot," 
remarked  Bayard,  with  decision,  as 
he  rolled  a  new  cigarette. 

"  Oh,  no,  it  isn't,"  returned  Tamar, 
solemnly.  ' '  I  learned  it  in  Germany, 
the  home  of  reason,  philosophy,  and 
metaphysics.  When  I  went  abroad, 
I  prided  myself  that  I  was  an  Amer 
ican,  but  when  I  arrived  in  Germany, 
I  was  told  I  was  an  Asiatic. 
Perhaps  the  real  truth  is  the  East 
and  West  meet  in  me.  I  am  so 
intensely  American  in  some  ways; 
[98] 


TUBN  AND  CLING —YET  GO 

and  so  intensely  different  from  the 
world  about  me,  even  from  you  whom 
I  know  best  of  all,  in  other  ways." 

"  But  the  differences  are  only  in 
minor  things,"  was  the  quick  re 
sponse. 

"  Well,.  I  should  hardly  call  religion 
and  art  minor  things,"  rejoined 
Tamar. 

"Art!  "  exclaimed  Tyndall,  "  why, 
there  are  no  two  people  in  this  world 
more  in  accord  with  each  other  on 
that  question  than  you  and  I.  You 
are  positively  Hellenistic  in  your  love 
of  Greek  art." 

"Ah,  yes,  Greek  art.  That's 
another  thing.  I  can  understand 
Greek  art.  I  can  understand  the 
Greek's  ideal  of  sensuous  beauty,  I 

[99] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

can  sympathize  with  his  greeting 
of  '  Rejoice/  I  can  realize  the  spirit 
that  drove  him  to  deify  the  forces  of 
Nature,  and  raise  up  shrines  to  many 
gods,  perhaps  because  love  of  beauty 
and  joy  in  living  are  parts  of  my 
being.  It  may  be  that  in  a  previous 
state  of  existence  I  was  a  Greek ;  or, 
better  yet,  I  may  have  lived  in  those 
far-away  days  when  my  people  re 
sponded  to  the  fascination  of  Greek 
ideals  to  the  almost  mortal  peril  of 
their  souls.  That  would  account  for 
my  Hellenistic  brain  and  Hebraic 
heart,"  Tamar  went  on  in  mock 
seriousness.  "  I  can  understand  the 
Aryan  while  he  remains  a  pagan,  but 
he  passes  beyond  my  comprehension 
when  he  fuses  Judaism  with  his 

[100] 


TUBN"  AND  CLING,— YET  GO 

paganism,  and  makes  the  new  com 
pound,  Christianity.  And  so  it  is  for 
purely  Christian  art;  it  seems  to 
reach  the  blind  spot  of  my  mental 
retina.  Take,  as  an  instance,  the 
Sistine  Madonna.  Where  you  see 
an  infant  God  and  His  superhuman 
mother,  I  see  nothing  but  a  woman 
and  a  baby,  with  no  more  divinity 
than  the  divine  in  pure  motherhood 
all  the  world  over.  As  for  the  Last 
Judgment,  it  is  to  me  absolutely  blas 
phemous,  revolting  in  its  daring  to 
represent  God  in  human  form.  That 
is  the  Semite  within  me,  our  German 
friends  would  say,  but  it  just  goes  to 
prove  I  am  Aryan  by  attrition  only, 
it's  not  even  skin  deep." 

Tamar  looked  up  with  a  smile,  but 

[101] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

Bayard  met  it  with  a  serious  gaze. 
"  Do  you  know,  Tamar,"  he  said 
very  gravely,  "  you  sometimes  build 
a  very  high  wall  between  us  ?  ' 

"Yes,  I  know,"  she  answered  a 
little  sadly.  "  I  feel  it  myself,  but 
then,"  her  face  brightening  again, 
"  I  can  take  it  all  down  in  a  minute, 
we  have  so  many  things  in  common." 

"  Surely  they  ought  to  be  strong 
enough  to  keep  that  wall  from  going 
up  again.  Oh,  Tamar,"  his  voice  was 
full  of  pleading  eagerness,  "  you  do 
not  know  how  it  hurts,  this  sense  of 
separation  from  you." 

"  Well,"  she  replied,  looking  up  at 

him  with  a  gleam  of  fun  in  the  back 

of  her  eye,  "  when  you  consider  that 

for  years   we   have   read  the   same 

[102] 


TUKN  AND  CLING —YET  GO 

books,  played  the  same  music,  and 
loved  the  same  salad  (which  I  do 
make  much  better  than  you  do),  I 
hardly  think  the  sense  of  separation 
can  oppress  you  very  much."  Then 
continuing  a  little  more  seriously, 
"  Besides,  there  is  no  one  in  the  world 
who  is  to  me  quite  what  my  old  play 
fellow  Bayard  is.  Surely  that  ought 
to  satisfy  you." 

"  Ah,  can't  you  see,  Tamar,  it 
doesn't,  it  doesn't?  "  came  in  a  low 
cry  from  him. 

"  Well,  it  will  have  to,  then,"  she 
rejoined  very  shortly.  "  Oh,  but  you 
do  show  streaks  of  nonsense  some 
times,"  this  with  a  relenting  smile. 
"  About  every  once  in  so  often  you 
like  to  imagine  yourself  in  love  with 
[103] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

me,  and  then  you  grow  irritable  at 
any  mention  of  the  differences  be 
tween  us." 

"  It's  because  you  harp  on  those 
differences  so  insistently,"  he  re 
plied  impatiently,  "  more  than  ever 
since  I've  returned  this  last  time." 

"  Ah,  perhaps  that  is  my  great 
wisdom,"  she  rejoined,  shaking  her 
head  in  mock  solemnity. 

"  Great  wisdom!  "  he  burst  out 
impetuously.  "  Do  you  think  all  the 
wisdom  in  the  world  would  keep  me 
from  falling  in  love  with  you,  or  keep 
me  from  telling  it  now?  ' 

Tamar  turned  white  to  the  lips  for 
an  instant,  then  she  answered  very 
slowly,  "  Bayard,  I  am  sorry  beyond 
all  words  that  you  have  spoken  as  you 

[104] 


TUEN  AND  CLING —YET  GO 

have."  After  a  breathing  pause,  she 
added,  "  Never  let  me  hear  it  again." 
"  Oh,  but  you  are  going  to  hear  it 
again,"  he  answered  with  a  passion 
ate,  masterful  note  in  his  voice,  "  here 
and  now.  Do  you  fancy  for  an 
instant  that  you  are  going  to  still  the 
gnawing  hunger  at  my  heart  by  bid 
ding  me  be  silent?  Do  you  suppose 
for  one  moment  that  you  can  stem  the 
torrent  of  my  love  by  a  straw-dam  of 
race  differences  and  silly,  outworn 
prejudices?  Oh,  Tamar,"  and  his 
voice  grew  tender  and  pleading,  "  I 
have  loved  you  since  we  were  boy  and 
girl  together,  but  I  never  realized  how 
much  till  I  was  away  this  last  time. 
Through  those  pathless  forests,  on 
the  lone  mountain  tops  at  night,  I 

[105] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

used  to  dream  of  you  so  constantly, 
with  such  exquisite  longing,  that 
more  than  once  I  saw  your  bodily 
presence  before  me.  Oh,  Tamar, 
Tamar,  you  will  not  bid  me  be  silent 
now?  ' 

"Yes,"  Tamar  answered  with  a 
deep  indrawing  of  her  breath.  And 
again,  almost  inaudibly,  "  Yes." 
Her  face  was  partially  turned  away 
from  him  so  that  he  could  not  see  its 
expression,  but  he,  who  knew  every 
note  of  her  voice,  and  her  little  trick 
of  nursing  her  hands  close  against 
her  breast  when  she  was  emotionally 
stirred,  read  that  she  was  suffering. 

"  O  my  darling,  I  have  pained 
you,"  he  cried  in  quick  contrition. 
"  Forgive  me,  Tamar,  forgive  me.  I 

[106] 


TUEN  AND  CLING —YET  GO 

am  such  a  selfish  brute.  But,  oh,  I 
had  to  speak.  I  have  been  ordered 
away  again  next  week,  this  time  to 
Persia,  and  I  felt  I  could  not  go  again 
without  telling  you  what  was  in  my 
heart,  without  breathing  to  you  the 
mad,  wild  hope  that  I  might  win  your 
love  to  take  with  me.  Oh,  Tamar," 
he  went  over  toward  her,  his  passion 
ate  appeal  vibrating  through  his  low 
voice,  "  Tamar,  is  it  so  mad  after 
all!" 

Tamar  sat  staring  straight  before 
her,  a  silent,  frozen  woman.  A  feel 
ing  of  fear  crept  over  Bayard  as  he 
gazed  at  her.  "  Tamar/7  he  whis 
pered,  "  have  I  hurt  you  beyond 
forgiveness1?  " 

Then  Tamar  spoke,  in  a  dull,  color- 

[107] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

less  voice,  not  answering  his  question, 
but  uttering  aloud  a  thought  that 
seemed  grinding  itself  into  her  brain, 
"  The  hour  of  my  dread  has  come." 

"  Oh,  Tamar,  my  darling,"  he  cried, 
sinking  on  his  knees  beside  her  and 
taking  her  hands  in  his,  "  why  should 
you  have  dreaded  this  moment  ?  Only 
your  loving  me  could  have  made  you 
dread  it,  and  if  you  love  me,  we  can 
face  the  world  together  triumphantly, 
and  snap  our  fingers  at  its  preju 
dices." 

"Ah,  it  is  not  the  world's  prejudices 
I  fear,"  Tamar  answered,  "  but  mine 
and  yours." 

"Ah,  my  love,  if  that  is  all,"  he 
laughed  in  low,  happy  assurance, 
"  then  we  may  blow  fear  to  the  winds. 

[108] 


TUKN  AND  CLING,— YET  GO 

Association  with  you  has  so  broad 
ened  me  that  I  have  risen  above  the 
silly,  petty  prejudices  of  the  world, 
and  surely  you  who  have  taught  me 
the  way  cannot  be  less  liberal." 

"  I  am  less  liberal,"  she  slowly 
answered.  "  In  the  last  analysis  I 
am  a  narrow-minded  Jewess." 

"  Tell  me,  Tamar,"  he  questioned, 
gently  turning  her  face  toward  him 
self,  "  tell  me,  do  you  think  it  a  sin 
for  a  Jewess  to  marry  a  Christian?  " 

' i  If  you  mean  by  sin  that  she  would 
eternally  damn  her  soul  by  such  a 
marriage,  no.  If  you  mean  that  by 
such  a  step  she  would  bring  into  her 
life,  as  consequences,  endless  pain, 
wearying  strife  of  soul,  yes." 

"  Tamar,"  he  cried  in  reproachful 
[109] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

surprise,  "  how  can  you  say  such 
things  ?  How  can  any  woman  suffer 
endless  pain  and  strife  of  soul  united 
to  the  man  she  loves'?  r 

"  Because  marriage  is  not  for  a 
day,  Bayard,"  she  replied  gently, 
"  and  when  the  glamour  of  passion 
has  passed  away,  the  man  and  woman 
with  antagonistic  pasts  and  divergent 
aims  in  the  future  must  find  them 
selves  on  opposite  sides  of  an  un 
bridgeable  gulf.  If  they  love  each 
other,  the  suffering  that  must  ensue 
is  too  horrible  to  contemplate." 

"  If  they  love  each  other,  they  have 
nothing  to  fear,"  he  quickly  returned. 
"  Love  overcomes  all  things.  Be 
sides,"  he  quickly  added,  "  however 
antagonistic  our  pasts  may  have  been, 

[110] 


TURN  AND  CLING —YET  GO 

our  future  aims  are  the  same.  We 
both  look  forward  to  the  day  when 
meanness  and  prejudice  shall  exist  no 
more,  and  in  our  daily  lives  we're 
trying  to  make  that  ideal  real.  So 
there  is  no  divergence  in  our  aims." 

"  Our  future  aims,"  she  slowly 
answered  "  are  the  logical  outcome  of 
our  past.  But  putting  ourselves 
aside  for  a  moment,  suppose  there 
should  be  children?  "  she  asked. 

"  Could  we  not  trust  love  to  find 
out  a  way?  "  he  questioned  in  turn. 
"  Don't  you  see,  Tamar,  that  we  are 
so  alike  in  all  the  essential  things  of 
life,  in  our  aims  and  ideals,  in  our 
tastes  and  sympathies,  that  we  must 
succeed,  that  we  are  fortified  to  meet 
the  terrors  you  are  conjuring  up,  by 
[ill] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

reason  of  our  absolute  oneness?  Is 
there  anything  within  reason  I  would 
deny  you  ?  Do  you  fear  I  would  ever 
ask  you  to  give  anything  up?  " 

"You  think  you  would  not/'  she 
shook  her  head  at  him  with  a  sad 
little  smile,  "  but  you  couldn't  help 
yourself.  That  absolute  oneness 
which  you  insist  on  is  a  delusion,  a 
thing  of  air,  woven  of  intellect  alone. 
It  may  be,  as  Emerson  says,  that 
when  one  is  cast  on  a  desert  island 
with  another,  it  is  more  important 
that  he  should  like  the  books  one  likes 
than  that  he  should  recite  the  same 
credo.  But  this  also  is  true,  that  it  is 
well  with  a  woman  and  her  child  only 
when  the  father  can  echo  her  prayers. 
You  know  how  often,  in  my  bantering 

[112] 


TUKN  AND  CLING,— YET  GO 

way,  I  have  proclaimed  that  I  would 
rather  have  my  principles  violated 
than  my  taste  offended,  and  I  really 
believe  in  the  main  that's  so.  But 
motherhood  has  nothing  to  do  with 
principle  or  taste,  it  goes  far  deeper, 
to  something  primitive,  something 
buried  far  down  in  the  race.  And  all 
your  love  for  me  and  all  my  love  for 
you  would  be  powerless  before  the 
traditions  of  centuries  which  run  in 
my  blood.  And  all  our  oneness,  which 
has  been  our  delight,  would  crumble 
to  ashes  before  a  child,  and  you  would 
then  see  what  I  have  always  seen,  the 
chasm  between  us." 

"  Why,  Tamar,  you  are  not  your 
self,"  cried  Bayard,  pain  and  aston 
ishment  in  his  voice.  "  You  are  a 

[113] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAK 

changeling,  not  my  old  playmate,  not 
the  sympathetic  woman  who  has 
understood  every  throb  of  my  heart, 
every  impulse  of  my  soul.  Was  it  all 
false,  all  mere  seeming,  this  sympathy 
with  all  my  striving  and  all  my 
dreams  ?  Oh,  that  cannot  be !  I  am 
raving  now  as  you  were  a  moment 
ago." 

"  No,  dear,"  she  answered  quietly, 
turning  to  face  him,  where  he  now  sat 
on  a  low  settee  at  her  side.  "  No, 
dear,  I  was  not  raving,  neither  was 
my  sympathy  a  sham.  I  have  always 
understood  you  as  you  never  could 
understand  me.  You  Christians  are 
so  simple,  your  roots  are  but  of  yes 
terday,  your  path  in  life  has  lain  free 
and  open  before  you.  But  we  Jews 

[114] 


TUEN  AND  CLING,— YET  GO 

are  so  different,  so  complex,  our  roots 
reach  back  to  earliest  time,  and  they 
are  living  roots  to-day,  yet  there  is  no 
thought  too  modern  for  us  to  absorb. 
Centuries  on  centuries  of  torturous 
oppression  forced  us  back  on  the  past, 
till  that  past  has  become  the  very 
fibre  of  our  being,  and  only  because 
our  past  is  your  future  is  it  possible 
for  us  Jews  to  comprehend  so  thor 
oughly  the  ideals  of  your  civilization. 
There  is  no  culture  too  modern  for 
the  sympathy  of  the  Jew,  he  responds 
to  the  latest  breath  of  his  environ 
ment,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  the 
influence  of  ancient  days  is  vitally- 
present  in  him,  whether  he  is  con 
scious  of  it  or  not.  He  may  be  the 
up-to-date  American,  the  more  than 

[115] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

i 
British  Englishman,  the  Frenchman 

of  the  latest  moment,  and  under  that 
modernity  lies  a  granite  stratum 
made  up  of  the  ideals,  the  traditions, 
the  sufferings  of  thirty  centuries.  Do 
you  not  see,  then,  Bayard,  dear,  how 
much  of  me  there  must  be  that  you 
could  never  understand  ?  Why,  the 
most  lax  and  laggard  Jew  would 
know  on  the  instant  what  I  mean  now, 
and  I  can  see  by  your  face  I  am  in 
comprehensible  to  you." 

"  Yes,  you  are,"  he  sorrowfully 
assented.  "I  once  thought  I  knew 
your  every  thought,  and  I  always 
believed  with  a  perfect  faith  that  love 
could  bridge  all  difficulties  between 
us,  could  smooth  over  any  misunder 
standing  that  might  arise ;  and,  what 
[116] 


TUKN  AND  CLING,— YET  GO 

is  more,  I  believe  so  still,  in  spite  of 
these  ghosts  you  are  calling  up  from 
that  far-away  past  on  which  you  love 
to  dwell  so  much.  As  for  a  Jew's 
understanding  you  any  better  than  I 
do,  that  is  absurd.  I  know  plenty  of 
Jews,  the  worldly,  material  kind,  who 
would  comprehend  less  than  you 
think  I  do  all  your  feeling  for  your 
historic  past.  You  haven't  a  thing 
in  common  with  them." 

"  There  you  are  mistaken,  dear. 
He  may  not  realize,  as  I  do,  how  his 
Jewish  heritage  is  affecting  him. 
Take  the  most  materialistic,  unbeliev 
ing  Jew,  one  who  has  repudiated  the 
faith  of  his  fathers,  a  race  Jew,  and 
ask  him  what  he  thinks  about  inter 
marriage.  His  denunciation  of  it 

[117] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

would  be  absurd  if  one  did  not  know 
that  the  voices  of  the  past  were  speak 
ing  in  him.  Man  of  the  earth  though 
he  be,  there  will  come  some  moment 
in  his  life  when  he  will  thrill  as  I  do 
when  he  hears  the  '  Hear,  O  Israel ' 
chanted,  because  that  simple  prayer 
has  been  the  refrain  of  our  people  in 
triumph  and  in  torture  down  the  ages. 
Take  my  witty,  sceptical  cousin,  to 
whom  Judaism  in  its  ideals  and  cere 
monies  has  absolutely  no  meaning.  I 
do  not  believe  he  has  ever  entered  a 
synagogue  or  even  uttered  a  prayer 
since  he  grew  to  a  reasoning  age,  and 
yet  he  refused  the  gift  of  a  certain 
very  beautiful  statue  simply  because 
it  was  adorned  with  a  cross.  That 
you  cannot  understand.  That  innate 
[118] 


THEN  AND  CLING,— YET  GO 

antipathy  to  what  you  consider  the 
most  sacred  symbol  in  life,  you  will 
set  down  to  narrow-minded  prejudice, 
and  yet  it  isn't.  It  goes  back  beyond 
the  centuries  on  centuries  of  Chris 
tian  hatred  and  oppression,  to  the 
very  beginnings  of  Christianity  where 
it  is  a  conflict  of  God-ideas.  The  Jew 
of  that  day  looked  upon  a  Man-God  as 
a  blasphemous  contradiction  in  terms, 
and  the  worship  of  the  Trinity  as  a 
form  of  polytheism,  and  the  Jew  of 
to-day  thinks  just  the  same." 

"Ah,  that  is  because  he  does  not 
understand  the  principles  of  Chris 
tianity,"  Bayard  broke  in. 

"  Because  he  can  not  understand 
them,"  Tamar  returned.  "Do  you 
remember  how  once  you  spent  hours 

[119] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

trying  to  make  me  see  the  three-in-one 
and  one-in-three  idea ?  You  couldn't 
succeed.  Why  ?  Not  because  I  lack 
intelligence  and  sympathy,  but  be 
cause  the  whole  thing  is  meaningless, 
is  too  metaphysical,  for  my  Semitic 
mind.  If  the  invention  of  metaphys 
ics  proves  the  superiority  of  the 
Aryan  over  the  Semite,  as  the  holders 
of  the  race  theory  proclaim,  why,  I 
must  humbly  accept  my  limitation. 
But  this  is  just  like  one  of  those  old 
arguments  we  used  to  hold  years 
ago,"  she  smiled,  "  when  we  were 
both  so  young  we  felt  we  must  defend 
and  justify  the  faith  we  each  held. 
There  is  no  need  of  that  any  more," 
she  went  on,  "  we  each  know  how  un 
alterable  the  other  is  on  that  question, 

[120] 


TUKN  AND  CLING,— YET  GO 

and  we  respect  each  other's  convic 
tions.  That  is  the  nearest  we  can  ever 
come  in  the  vital  matter  of  religion." 
"Well,  I  consider  mutual  respect 
in  such  matters/7  Bayard  returned 
decisively,  "  a  most  excellent  founda 
tion.  It's  more  than  is  often  found 
among  differing  sects  of  Christians. 
I  can  well  remember  the  differences 
between  my  grandfather  and  his 
sister,  when  I  was  a  small  boy.  He 
was  a  true  blue  Presbyterian  of  the 
Old  Covenanters,  and  my  great-aunt 
had  become  a  convert  to  the  Church 
of  England.  The  things  they  used  to 
say  to  each  other  about  their  respec 
tive  beliefs,  and  the  future  states  they 
used  to  mete  out  to  each  other,  used 
to  fill  my  infant  soul  with  horror." 
[121] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

"  Oh,  but  that  was  nothing, "  re 
joined  Tamar,  "  at  the  very  bottom 
they  had  the  same  foundation.  It  is 
like  the  wordy  wars  between  Ortho 
dox  and  Reform  Jews.  They  say  the 
most  scathing  things  to  each  other, 
but  before  the  attacks  of  the  anti- 
Semites  the  most  cultured,  modern 
Jew  of  ultra-Reform  stands  blood- 
brother  to  the  bent,  hunted,  rigid 
Orthodox  of  the  Ghetto.  So  you 
take  your  6  seventy  jarring  sects  '  of 
Christendom,  and  see  how  quickly 
they  would  unite,  even  to  Quaker  and 
Catholic,  were  any  fundamental 
dogma  impugned.  It's  the  founda 
tions  after  all  that  count.  You 
may  safely  raze  and  rebuild  the 
superstructure  any  number  of  times, 

[122] 


TUEN  AND  CLING —YET  GO 

if  the  cornerstone  remains  un 
changed." 

"  Tamar,"  said  Bayard,  suddenly, 
"  I  understand  for  the  first  time  how 
the  Jews  of  olden  times  drove  their 
neighbors  to  madness,  hatred,  and 
persecution.  It  was  their  stiff-necked 
determination  never  to  see  any  but 
their  own  angle  of  revelation,  their 
absolutely  maddening  immovableness 
in  the  face  of  all  argument,  pleading, 
prayer. 

"And  you  might  add  torture,  exile? 
death,"  commented  Tamar. 

"  Yes,"  he  went  on  a  little  bitterly, 
"  I  really  believe  that  you,  so  fair  and 
soft  and  modern,  would  go  to  torture, 
exile,  death,  with  a  smile  on  your  lips, 
for  your  ancient,  outworn  creed. 

[123] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

Yes, ' '  his  bitterness  increasing, l '  you 
would  heartlessly  sacrifice  me  and  my 
great  love  and  the  living  present  for 
an  echo  from  the  past.  What  is  the 
good  of  religion  in  the  world,"  he 
cried,  "  if  it  does  not  bring  mankind 
closer  together  in  bonds  of  love? 
The  faith  that  preaches  separation 
preaches  a  creed  of  hate.  Oh,  Tamar, 
my  darling,"  he  pleaded  passionately, 
"  can  you  not  see  that  love  rises  above 
all  old,  spent  faiths'?  Can  you  not 
believe  that  love  is  master  of  the 
world,  and  not  belief  in  this  or  that 
god?  Oh,  Tamar,  is  your  heart  of 
stone  that  my  love  must  plead  in 
vain?  Come  away  with  me,  my  be 
loved,  come  away,  and  we  will  live 
our  lives  together  in  peace  and 

[124] 


TUEN  AND  CLING,— YET  GO 

beauty,  away  from  all  who  would 
carp  and  criticise.'7  He  had  her  close 
in  his  arms,  passionately  kissing  her 
face,  her  hair,  her  neck.  She  lay  so 
still  in  his  embrace,  her  hands  nursed 
close  against  her  breast,,  that  he 
thought  love  had  won.  ' '  Ah,  we  shall 
be  so  happy  together,  my  beloved,  my 
treasure.  We  will  forget  the  mere 
formulas  of  creeds,  and  thank  God  by 
the  joy  of  our  lives.  Oh,  say  you 
will  come  with  me,  my  beloved,  come 
with  me.  Come  away,  my  heart's 
treasure,  come  away." 

"  Let  me  go,  Bayard,  let  me  go," 
begged  Tamar,  trying  to  free  herself 
from  his  strong  clasp.  "  Please,  be 
loved,  let  me  go." 

"  When  you  ask  in  that  tone,  dar- 
[125] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

ling,"  he  answered,  kissing  her  once 
more,  "  I  can  refuse  you  nothing." 

"  Then  you  will  heed  my  prayer," 
she  pleaded,  "  and  go." 

66  Go,  Tamar?  Away  from  you? 
After  I  have  held  you  in  my  arms? 
How  can  you  be  so  unreasonable, 
Tamar,  or,"  and  here  a  sudden  fear 
ful  doubt  betrayed  itself  in  his  voice, 
"  have  I  been  mistaken  in  you  all 
these  years,  and  are  you  just  heart 
less?" 

"  Oh,  no,  I  am  not  heartless,"  she 
answered  wearily,  "  only  go,  and  do 
not  come  back  till  you  have  conquered 
this  feeling." 

"  Conquer  this  feeling!  Do  you 
know  what  you  are  asking?  What 
you  are  saying?  You  speak  like  a 

[126] 


TURN  AND  CLING —YET  GO 

child.  Do  you  not  know  that  love  of 
you  is  knit  into  the  very  fibres  of  my 
being,  the  very  breath  of  my  life*? 
Can  a  man  conquer  such  love,  do  you 
think?  " 

"  Then  you  must  go  away  forever, 
and  forget  me." 

"  Pluck  out  a  man's  eyes,  and  will 
he  forget  the  sights  he  has  seen'?  v 
he  passionately  demanded.  "  Tear 
you  out  of  my  heart,  and  will  that 
deaden  memory?  To  the  last  hour 
of  my  life  I  should  remember  you, 
Tamar.  Do  you  not  realize  you  are 
the  one  woman  on  God's  earth  for  me, 
beloved  ?  The  woman  of  my  dreams, 
the  dream  of  my  life?  Oh,  Tamar," 
he  cried  with  a  sudden  rush  of 
passion,  "  are  you  made  of  stone  that 
[127] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAR 

you  stand  so  immovable,  so  silent 
before  me  ?  Do  you  know,  oh,  do  you 
know  what  love  is?  " 

"  I  do  not  know,"  she  answered, 
slowly,  sadly  shaking  her  head.  "  I 
know  only  this,  that  for  years  and 
years  your  mere  presence  has  been 
my  greatest  joy,  and  with  your  going 
some  of  the  delight  has  gone  out  of 
my  life.  To  me  you  were  always  the 
first  among  men,  my  ideal,  my 
standard  by  whom  all  others  were 
measured.  There  is  not  a  thing  I 
own  that  is  not  steeped  in  association 
with  you,  the  books  I  read,  the  music 
I  play,  the  flowers  in  my  garden,  this 
very  room,  and  that  association  has 
been  of  the  breath  of  my  life.  You 
have  been  my  last  thought  as  I  sank 

[128] 


TURN  AND  CLING —YET  GO 

to  sleep  at  night,  my  first  thought  in 
the  morning.  Your  friendship  has 
been  more  to  me  than  all  the  love 
other  men  have  brought  me.  To  keep 
that  has  been  my  one  prayer,  and 
now  that  must  go."  Dull,  resigned 
despair  was  in  every  line  of  her  face 
and  in  the  little  gesture  with  which 
she  dropped  her  hands  at  her  side. 

For  a  moment  he  was  infected  with 
her  hopelessness,  and  then  love  rose 
to  battle  for  its  own  again. 

"Ah,  my  beloved,  my  heart's 
treasure,"  he  tenderly  cried,  caress 
ingly  laying  his  hand  on  her  arm, 
"  can  you  not  see  it  is  wrong,  it  is  sin 
to  put  such  love  out  of  our  lives  ?  Is 
perfect  love  so  common  that  we  may 
ruthlessly  throw  it  aside,  even  at  the 

[129] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

command  of  faith?  Is  it  not  your 
own  poet  who  said,  '  Love  is  stronger 
than  death  '  ?  Surely  then  if 

'  Many  waters  cannot  quench  love 
Nor  rivers  drown  it/ 

we  have  a  right  to  enjoy  this  gift  of 
God.  Oh,  do  you  not  remember,  my 
darling,  how  often  we  have  jestingly 
declared  that  we  knew  each  other  in 
another  life,  that  we  were  comrades 
and  lovers  then  even  as  we  have  been 
here?  I  catch  myself  half  believing 
that  at  times,"  he  went  on  with  a 
smile.  "  My  love  for  you  must  have 
been  a  rich  and  glorious  heritage 
handed  down  to  me  through  the  ages. 
Ah,  Tamar,  you  have  always  been  to 
me  the  fairest  among  women,  the 
delight  of  my  eyes,  the  treasure  of  my 

[130] 


TUEN  AND  CLING —YET  GO 

soul.  I  loved  you  in  the  dim  far 
away  of  time  as  I  love  you  now.  Do 
you  think,  then,  I  will  let  you  go?  r 
he  asked  with  happy  assurance  as  he 
held  her  close. 

She  lay  so  still  in  his  arms,  he  felt 
sure  love  had  conquered,  and  between 
his  kisses  he  whispered,  "  You  will 
come  with  me,  my  beloved,  come  with 


me." 


She  lay  so  still  in  his  arms  he  grew 
frightened,  the  closed  eyes  and  set, 
white  face  seemed  akin  to  death.  The 
face  grew  strange  to  him  under  his 
gaze,  It  was  no  longer  his  comrade 
who  lay  close  to  his  heart,  no  longer 
Tamar,  the  laughing,  the  light- 
hearted,  but  a  woman  grown  strange 
and  distant,  in  her  face  the  seal  of 

[131] 


BEATING  SEA  AND  CHANGELESS  BAE 

suffering,  not  only  the  suffering  of  a 
broken  heart,  but  the  tragedy  of  a 
race.  The  sense  of  this  strangeness, 
this  distance,  chilled  him  as  she 
opened  her  eyes,  and  gazed  at  him 
mutely  with  a  long,  slow,  solemn  gaze, 
as  the  dying  gaze  when  they  are  past 
the  powers  of  speech. 

Slowly  she  put  up  her  hand  to 
smooth  back  an  unruly  lock  of  his, 
just  as  she  had  so  often  done  once  dur 
ing  a  memorable  illness  of  his,  and 
the  little  caressing  gesture  made  her 
human,  made  her  Tamar  again. 

"  O  God,  my  darling!  "  he  sobbed, 
burying  his  face  in  her  hair. 

In  an  instant  she  had  him  down 
beside  her,  comforting  him  as  only  a 

[132] 


THEN  AND  CLING,— YET  GO 

woman  can  comfort  the  man  who  is 
more  to  her  than  life. 

"  Don't  grieve  so,  my  heart's 
treasure,"  she  prayed,  "  don't,  for 
my  sake.  It  makes  it  so  much  harder 
to  face." 

Then,  with  her  soul  on  her  lips,  she 
kissed  his  eyes  and  hair,  and  turned 
and  went,  even  as  he  cried,  "  Come 
with  me,  oh,  come  with  me,  my 
beloved." 


[133] 


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